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A blood type was the most common in our group of patients (41.6%), followed by O blood type (33.3%), B blood type (15.8%) and AB blood type (9.3%), respectively. Non-O blood type lymphoma patients with VTE had significantly more often developed VTE prior to the treatment initiation in comparison with O blood type lymphoma patients with VTE (2.5% vs. 1%, I p i = 0.04), whereas VTE in O blood type lymphoma patients was significantly more often after the initiation of hematological treatment in comparison with VTE in non-O blood type patients (3.8% vs. 3%, I p i = 0.04). VTE was diagnosed before the specific hematological treatment initiation in 46.8% of lymphoma patients, whilst 53.2% of lymphoma patients have been diagnosed with VTE after the hematological treatment commencement. [Extracted from the article]

Objectives – Until today there is no reliable test that can clearly distinguish Parkinson’s disease (PD) from the essential tremor (ET). Our aim was to determine the usefulness of the transcranial sonography (TCS) in the differential diagnosis of the PD and ET as well as the interobserver reliability for this method. Methods – Transcranial sonography of substantia nigra and clinical examination were performed on 80 PD patients, 30 ET patients, and 80 matched controls by two independent physicians. Results – Bilateral SN hyperechogenicity over the margin of 0.20 cm2 was found in 91% of PD patients, 10% of healthy subjects, and in 13% patients with ET. Interobserver agreement for this method was significant (Student’s t-test, P = 1.000). Conclusions – Substantia nigra hyperechogenicity on TCS is a highly specific finding of PD, where in healthy individuals or in ET patients, it might correspond to an increased risk of developing PD later in life or might also be because of the impairment of nearby area of nucleus ruber in ET patients, as suggested by positron emission tomography studies. TCS may serve as a practical and sufficiently sensitive neuroimaging tool in PD diagnoses and in distinguishing it from ET; its repeatability and accuracy might add to its practical value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine the extent to which nuclear metallothionein protects from radiation-induced DNA damage under aerobic and hypoxic conditions. Materials and methods: A semiquantitative fluorescence image analysis method measured the nuclear content of metallothionein (MT) in ME180 and SiHa human squamous cervical carcinoma cell lines under normal growth conditions, and following MT induction by zinc. The extent of initial DNA damage following [sup 60]Co irradiation under aerobic and hypoxic conditions was assessed using the alkaline comet assay. Results: Provided that cells were maintained at 37°C, most of the cellular content of MT was in the nucleus. Incubation at 4°C caused the rapid translocation of MT from the nucleus into the cytoplasm in both cell lines, with no net loss of cellular MT. Baseline nuclear MT levels were about four times greater in ME180 cells, and were much more readily induced by treatment with 100μm zinc acetate, compared with SiHa cells. Under aerobic conditions, MT induction by zinc resulted in no protection in either of the cell lines. Under hypoxic conditions, however, the number of DNA single-strand breaks in zinc-treated cells was reduced by ~40% in ME180, but not in SiHa cells, when compared with non-induced controls. Conclusions: Nuclear MT can exert a significant level of protection from radiation by a mechanism that involves competition with oxygen for DNA radical sites and/or scavenging of free radicals. Because increased MT levels have been reported in hypoxic micro-regions of some solid tumours, this protective mechanism might have clinical relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]